he wisest
measures for the government of the world and men, and an equal number
of gods assembled on the cloudy peak of Mount Olympus for a similar
purpose. The Golden Age in Greece was a period of idyllic happiness,
amid ever-flowering groves and under balmy skies, while the Northern
age of bliss was also a time when peace and innocence flourished on
the earth, and when evil was as yet entirely unknown.

The Creation of Man

Using the materials near at hand, the Greeks modelled their first
images out of clay; hence they naturally imagined that Prometheus had
made man out of that substance when called upon to fashion a creature
inferior to the gods only. As the Northern statues were hewn out
of wood, the Northern races inferred, as a matter of course, that
Odin, Vili, and Ve (who here correspond to Prometheus, Epimetheus,
and Minerva, the three Greek creators of man) made the first human
couple, Ask and Embla, out of blocks of wood.

The goat Heidrun, which supplied the heavenly mead, is like Amalthea,
Jupiter's first nurse, and the busy, tell-tale Ratatosk is equivalent
to the snow-white crow in the story of Coronis, which was turned black
in punishment for its tattling. Jupiter's eagle has its counterpart
in the ravens Hugin and Munin, or in the wolves Geri and Freki,
which are ever crouching at Odin's feet.

Norns and Fates

The close resemblance between the Northern Orlog and the Greek Destiny,
goddesses whose decrees the gods themselves were obliged to respect,
and the equally powerful Norns and Moerae, is too obvious to need
pointing out, while the Vanas are counterparts of Neptune and the
other ocean divinities. The great quarrel between the Vanas and the
AEsir is merely another version of the dispute between Jupiter and
Neptune for the supremacy of the world. Just as Jupiter forces his
brother to yield to his authority, so the AEsir remain masters of all,
but do not refuse to continue to share their power with their conquered
foes, who thus become their allies and friends.

Like Jupiter, Odin is always described as majestic and middle-aged,
and both gods are regarded as the divine progenitors of royal
races, for while the Heraclidae claimed Jupiter as their father, the
Inglings, Skioldings, etc., held that Odin was the founder of their
families. The most solemn oaths were sworn by Odin's spear as well as
by Jupiter's footstool, and both gods rejoice in a multitude of names,
all descriptive of the